Protesters gathered at a Boyle Heights hospital Saturday after reports that federal immigration agents were present at the medical facility Friday night.
A march was held Saturday afternoon from Mariachi Plaza to Adventist Health White Memorial at 1720 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave. The march included among others, state Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network and various community advocates.
“What happened last night was unacceptable,” Durazo said during the protest. “It’s unacceptable that ICE would go into our health care facilities. But we also believe that White Memorial can and should do more.”
Hospital officials told reporters that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents transported someone in their custody to the facility’s emergency department Friday to receive care for undisclosed reasons.
Hospital officials told NBC Los Angeles that the blockade forced ambulances to send patients to other hospitals for about two hours.
In a statement, a hospital spokesperson told NBC that the hospital “did not request nor authorize” ICE agents to form a line blocking the ambulance entrance.
The hospital does not participate in immigration enforcement and protects the immigration status of its patients, the statement read.
After neighbors saw ICE agents at the hospital on Friday night, a tense standoff ensued, the station reported.
The Los Angeles Police Department was called to the hospital after a protest broke out Friday night, but they said they did not assist with any immigration enforcement operations.
No arrests were made and no one was detained by police.
Protesters on Saturday called for answers from the hospital about how it works with ICE and for White Memorial to do more for vulnerable members of the community who are seeking care, NBC reported.
Mayor-elect Nithya Raman attended Saturday’s protest, telling a crowd that she was there to “stand in solidarity with Boyle Heights residents and every single member of this community to say ‘ICE out of Boyle Heights.’”
Mayor Karen Bass issued the following statement Saturday afternoon:
“Overnight, federal immigration agents gathered in force outside of the ambulance bay at Adventist Health White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights, effectively sealing off a critical entrance. For patients and families in medical crises, that presence was frightening at the worst possible moment. A hospital should be the one place where people feel safe. No one should have to think twice about receiving care or fear that a loved one’s treatment could be interrupted because of their immigration status.
“I condemn ICE’s action and call on the Trump administration to stop all immigration enforcement in and around health care facilities. Hospital leadership also had a duty to step in right away to protect patients and neighbors, and by all appearances, that did not happen.”
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.